A prison inmate has been charged with murder after she allegedly punched a pregnant hospital worker with such force that she killed the worker’s preborn baby.
According to WFAA, 39-year-old Cheri Aziza Akil was in the custody of the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office when she was transferred to the John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas, on Wednesday due to a risk of suicide. The sheriff’s office said Akil was being restrained at the time of the incident and that the hospital worker was standing next to the inmate’s bed. That is when Akil allegedly punched the worker in the stomach.
The hospital worker was taken to the trauma unit in the hospital, where it was learned that her baby had no heartbeat.
According to The Blaze, Akil had been arrested for credit debit fraud two days prior and had been released on a $1,500 bond. But by Wednesday, she was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated and intentionally/knowingly operating an illicit game room. Law and Crime also states Akil has a longstanding methamphetamine possession case. After she killed the preborn baby, a murder charge was added to the other crimes.
Texas law states that a person can be charged with capital murder for killing a preborn baby. The law is clear that it is considered capital murder when “the person murders an individual under 10 years of age…” That includes “an unborn child at every stage of gestation from fertilization until birth.” The law does not allow a pregnant mother to be charged with murder for the death of her own child.
In 2022, a Texas man was found guilty of capital murder in the death of his estranged wife’s five-week-old preborn baby. The guilty verdict carried an automatic life sentence without parole. He was also sentenced to 36 years for the assault of his ex-wife.
According to The Blaze, after Akil completes her treatment at the hospital, she will be booked into Tarrant County Jail.
